1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains broadly to fluid sprinkling, spraying, and diffusing, and more specifically to fuel injectors. The present invention comprises a fuel injector having a rigid fluid confining distributor with an assembly and disassembly feature.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fuel injector is an electro-mechanical device that is used to precisely meter specific amounts of fuel, and preferably controllably spray the metered fuel to form a combustible mixture within internal combustion engines. Because an internal combustion cylinder occupies a relatively small volume, the amount of fuel which will desirably be admitted on a single intake stroke is very small. However, the characteristics of combustion change rather dramatically with even seemingly minor changes in the amounts of fuel introduced into the combustion chamber. Nowhere is this more evident than in the field of racing, where very tiny differences in performance may result in substantially different race outcomes. Consequently, the careful tuning of each component within the very complex power and drive trains is practiced on nearly all racing machines. Of particular interest, as aforementioned, is the tuning of a fuel injector.
The art of tuning an engine through fuel injector changes has been practiced heretofore by the substitution of one fuel injector for another. These injectors have been manufactured in a factory as a single component assembled from many discrete piece parts. At the time of manufacture, it is not uncommon for parts being produced identically upon the same assembly line to have substantial variations in the amount of fuel delivered. Many manufacturers have heretofore resorted to hand grinding or machining components to individually adjust them to bring the fuel injection characteristics within specification. Such assembly techniques are difficult and expensive. Nevertheless, this type of work has heretofore been a necessity, and could only reasonably be done by the manufacturer. Consequently, if a racer, technician, mechanic, engineer, or anyone else determines that a slight increase in the amount of fuel delivered to one or more combustion cylinders is required, then a different set of fuel injectors would need to be purchased and installed. This practice necessitates the purchase and maintenance of substantial inventories of injectors, since, to accommodate a range of needs, a large number of injectors, each having distinct characteristics, may be required. Since many modern engines will have at least one injector per combustion cylinder, the number of injectors required will be equal to the number of cylinders multiplied by the number of injectors required to adequately cover the possible range of values needed. As may quickly be recognized, this can lead to a very large collection of injectors.
A further drawback with prior art injectors arises from the inherent fixed nature of a stock component. There is absolutely no opportunity for any further tuning, even minor fine tuning, and yet, as aforementioned, even tiny boosts in performance may substantially alter the outcome of a race. Furthermore, the careful balancing of cylinders may permit higher engine speeds and smoother operation.
There have been fuel injectors heretofore proposed which may be disassembled and re-worked for repair. Exemplary is U.S. Pat. No. 1,396,978 to Tachella, the teachings which are incorporated herein by reference, which illustrates a fuel injector designed for maintenance and modification with minimal down-time. Additional documents which provide further teachings of various injector constructions are also incorporated herein by reference for their teachings, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 723,956 to Weiss; 1,970,801 to Hurst; 2,088,007 to Zumbusch; 3,241,768 to Croft; 4,590,911 to Sciotti et al; 4,993,643 to Schechter et al; 5,312,050 to Schumann et al; 6,012,433 to Buescher; 6,131,829 and 6,152,387 to Ricco; 6,206,304 to Koseki et al; 6,345,601 to Miyajima et al; 6,409,094 and 2001/0022320 to Tojo et al; and U.S. published applications 2002/0117557 to Potschin et al; and 2003/0019955 to Schraudner et al.
As these prior art documents illustrate, fuel injectors must be specifically designed, built and calibrated for each engine application. If a person wishes to change engine or injector performance, or otherwise alter or upgrade an engine, it will normally be necessary to replace the fuel injectors with a new set of injectors that are specifically designed for optimal performance in the new configuration. This is both time consuming and expensive. What is desired then is a way to customize the injector for the specific characteristics of an engine design, without requiring the stocking of an enormous variety and quantity of injectors.